Patriot Battles - How War of Independence Was Fought

·         Title:  Patriot Battles – How the War of Independence Was Fought   (American Revolutionary War, 1775-83)

·         Author:  Michael Stephenson

·         Edition: Hardcover

·         Publisher:  HarperCollins Publishers (New York)

·         Copyright: 2007

·         Printing: 2007

·         Dimensions in inches:   9.25 x 6.25 x 1. 5  (421 pages)

·         ISBN:  978-0-06-073261-5

Drawing on hundreds of specialist sources, contemporary and archival, Patriot Battles in the comprehensive one-volume study of the military aspects of the War of Independence. 

The first part of the book offers a richly detailed examination of the nuts and bolts of 18^th-century combat:  For example, who fought and what motivated them, whether patriot or redcoat, Hessian or Frenchman?  How were they enlisted and trained?  How were they clothed and fed?  What weapons did they use, and how effective were they?  When soldiers became casualties or fell ill, how did medical services deal with them?  What roles did loyalists, women, blacks, and Indians play?

The second part of the book gives a closer look at the war’s greatest battles, with maps provided for each.  Which men were involved, and how many?  What was the state of their morale and equipment?  What parts did terrain and weather play?  What were the qualities of the respective commanders, and what tactics did they employ?  How many casualties were inflicted?  And no less important, how did the soldiers fight?

Throughout, many cherished myths are challenged, reputations are reassessed, and long-held assumptions are tested. For all readers, Patriot Battles becomes not only one of the most satisfying and illuminating works to be added to the literature on the War of Independence in many years but also a refreshing wind blowing through some of its dustier corridors. 

Contents:

PART ONE:  THE NUTES AND BOLTS OF WAR

-          “A Choaky Mouthful”:  The American Soldier

-          Lobsterbacks: The British Soldier

-          “Men of Character”:  The Officer Class

-          What Made Men Fight

-          Feeding the Beast

-          The Things They Carried:  Weapons, Equipment, and Clothing

-          The Big Guns:  Artillery

-          The Sanguinary Business:  Wounds, Disease, and Medical Care

-          “Trulls and Doxies”: Women in the Armies

-          Cuff and Salem, Dick and Jehu:  Blacks in the War

-          “The Proper Subjects of Our Resentment”: Indians

PART TWO:  THE GREAT BATTLES

The War in the North:

-          Ambush:  Lexington and Concord, 19 April 1775

-          “A Complication of Horror…”:  Bunker’s Hill,  17 June 1775

-          A Vaunting Ambition:  Quebec,  31 December 1775

-          “We Expect Bloody Work”:  Brooklyn,  22-29 August 1776

-          Fire and Ice:  Trenton I, 25-26 December 1776; Trenton II, 30 December, 1776; and Princeton, 3 January 1777

-          The Philadelphia Campaign:  Brandywine, 11 September 1777;  Germantown, 4 October 1777; and Monmouth Courthouse, 28 June 1778

-          The Saratoga Campaign:  Freeman’s Farm, 19 September 1777; and Bemis Heights, 7 October 1777

The War in the South:

-          The Laurels of Victory, the Willows of Defeat:  Camden, 16 August 1780

-          The Hunters Hunted:  Kings Mountain, 7 October 1780; and Cowpens, 17 January 1781

-          “Long, Obstinate, and Bloody”:  Guilford Courthouse, 15 March 1781

-          “Handsomely in a Pudding Bag”:  The Chesapeake Capes, 5-13 September 1781; and Yorktown, 28 September-19 October 1781

CONDITION:  NEW

Hardcover edition with dust-jacket in FINE condition, with strong binding, bright boards, and sharp corners, and a small remainder mark at the bottom edge (see photo). All pages are free from any writings, markings, tears, or pastedowns. Text block and pages are tight and clean, with no soiling, creasing, dog-ears or markings.

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